The link is a red herring. We are talking about a tax that somehow will save us from Global Warming and reduce oil dependence. This tax will ripple through the economy and cost us all money. It is almost as bad as VAT.
It is wrong to give a tax break to Exxon for oil exploration or to KFC to sell chicken in China. If they are not paying their tax then some one else will. A cap and trade is that same thing but worse since the tax will effect everything that uses energy.
Cap and trade is not going to stop pollution from energy exploration. Cap and trade is not going to promote green fuels. It is just moving the tax from one entity to another under the guise of making people feel good.
I can put a solar water heater on my roof and save money. Just barely does it make money sense. And it only makes money sense because of the tax incentive. Taking away the incentive and it makes no money sense to put in the system. The wind farmers are having the same problem. The Ethanol plants are having the same problem as their tax benefits go away.
I have a couple of shelves full of books about alternate energy. Those books are a couple of decades old. I am still waiting for what they propose to come true.
Maybe if I wish upon a star....
Pollution caused by oil exploration is a problem of regulation. Not a problem of taxation. By the way I know of one county in FLA that pumps treated waste water back into the ground. I don't see how that can be good but it has been going on for decades now.
Later,
Dan
Dan,
I never said cap and trade is the only solution, not sure it is the solution I would choose either. It is
one way of using free market forces to push energy use in the correct direction.
I posted the link because it shows in real photos, the result/by products of natural gas extraction. It discusses the downside of fracturing chemicals also. If we are discussing something, at least we should see the actuality of what is being discussed.
No where in your post do you put any value on the damage done by extraction, although you do have many opinions about taxes. We have proven over and over again, extraction regulation is a poor mechanism at best. It is highly subject to politcal manipulation, back room deals and revolving regulators/energy company employees.
Supposedly the environment is being protected while mountain tops disappear, and western prairies, plateaus, inland water sources and now marine resources are decimated. It doesn't add up. You need to see that reality. If you can witness all that and keep a straight face while saying we are taking care of the earth, we have no common ground on the issue.
The willful blindness to some energy extraction issues is astounding. For example, the dispersant formula used by BP in the Gulf is a 'trade secret'. Also the fracturing chemicals used in the gas wells is a 'trade secret'. How can it be that unknown chemicals are pumped into Federal waters and into BLM Federal lands, yet the public isn't allowed to know what the formalae are? I thought that was our land (you and me). It's absolutely nuts. Aside from war plans, sunshine has always been a powerful force.
I return to my statement, it's easy to point a finger at a tax as the only evil on the playing field, it just isn't realistic. The cost of environmental damage and contribution to global warming is given no value in your statements. How about a balanced approach?
Dave.
